CSU SUMMER DANCE WORKSHOP 2015 WEEK ONE WEEK ONE WEEK ONE WEEK ONE Schedule, Class Descriptions, & Artist Bios Contemporary Technique with ERIC HANDMAN JULY 6-­‐8 | 10:15 -­‐ 11:45 am >Momentous, grounded, detail-­‐oriented, visceral and volcanic, Feral Torque is a contemporary movement class. This class is an ever-­‐evolving synthesis of influences including ballet, gaga, contact improvisation, quigong, capoeira, Asian martial arts, various somatic practices and eclectic modern dance forms. Feral Torque is about enhancing power and flow, calibrating and sustaining momentum, and integrating complex limb torsions with an elastic torso. Momentum and centrifugal force are accessed through displacement, disequilibrium and distortion of the body. Advancing from floorwork through standing phrasework, the goals are to risk weight, explore detail and move into, out of, and across the floor with power, volume and clarity. ERIC HANDMAN is an American choreographer and an Associate Professor at the University of Utah's Department of Modern Dance. Prior to receiving his MFA from the University of Utah in 2003, he earned a BA in English from Skidmore College in 1991. He was a member of New York Theatre Ballet and then a professional dancer in various New York–based contemporary dance companies such as Doug Varone and Dancers, Nicholas Leichter Dance and Joy Kellman and Company. He has worked with David Dorfman, Lisa Race, Stephen Koester, Charlotte Boye-­‐Christensen, Koosilja-­‐Hwang, Eun Me Ahn, Pooh Kaye and many others. He teaches domestically and internationally, specializing in technique, composition, improvisation, contact improvisation, dance studies, criticism and theory. Various companies and departments from across the USA have commissioned his choreography. He has taught, performed and shown his work throughout the USA as well as Costa Rica, England, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and Hungary. His work has also been presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He has served on the board of directors of the Congress on Research in Dance and is presently on the board of the American College Dance Association. Handman is a Fulbright Specialist and member of the Entrepreneurial Faculty Scholars at the University of Utah for his work on mobile technology and choreographic thinking. In 2014 he won two choreography competitions: the 2014 New Visions Choreography Competition for Idaho Dance Theater and the 2014 Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition for the Northwest Dance Project. FREE SPECIAL OFFERING: GroundWorks DanceTheater Studio Showing of new work in progress by Eric Handman Wednesday, July 8 | 12:00 noon – 12:45 pm WEEK ONE WEEK ONE WEEK ONE WEEK ONE WEEK ONE 2 Contemporary Technique with PAMELA GEBER HANDMAN July 9 -­‐ 10 | 10:15 -­‐ 11:45 am >Riding the Wave, Finding the Power: Drawing from a myriad of influences including contemporary modern dance, somatics, yoga and kinesiological and exercise/sport science principles, this class will involve full-­‐out, committed play. Wear dance clothes in which you can move easily in and out of the floor, including knee pads. Building from deep and thorough warm-­‐ups that move between floor sequences and standing, we will explore ways to move with greater efficiency to dance hugely in space. We will stretch, suspend, fly and experiment with how freely and boldly we can encompass the entire room. We will fine-­‐
tune the specific movement initiation and sequential follow-­‐through. We’ll be challenged to ride the wave and find the power in full-­‐out, athletic movement sequences. PAMELA GEBER HANDMAN grew up in Cleveland Heights, OH and since, has lived on both coasts of the US, settling in Salt Lake City, UT for the last 15 years where she is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Dance at the University of Utah. Pamela serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies and regularly teaches contemporary modern technique, improvisation, composition, dance kinesiology, teaching methods, advanced principles of teaching and has served as director and choreographer for the department’s Performing Dance Company. She has studied Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais and Yoga, as well as experiential anatomy. Pamela is co-­‐founder of the Dance Kinesiology Teachers’ Group and has been a long-­‐time member of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS). Currently, she is co-­‐authoring a chapter for a new book via IADMS focused on conditioning for dancers. With a recent interest in working with special needs populations and mixed ability communities, Pamela organized and co-­‐taught a workshop entitled “Jump Start”: a dance and story-­‐
sharing workshop for individuals with Down Syndrome and their families. A documentary film is currently being finalized as a means of advocating for an integrative and arts-­‐inclusive education for children with special needs. Pamela has been on faculty at the University of Oregon in Eugene, at Bennington College’s July program in Vermont and taught both dance and music in several K-­‐12 schools throughout New York City. She holds an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle with an emphasis in dance science and education, a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an emphasis in performance and choreography, and a certification in Carl Orff’s teaching pedagogy for dance and music from Bloomingdale House of Music in New York City. She has performed professionally with Sara Rudner, Wendy Perron, David Gordon, Fred Darsow and in works by Stephen Koester, David Dorfman, Susan Marshall, Doug Varone, Mark Dendy, Zvi Gotheiner as well as reconstructions by Vaslav Nijinsky, Alwin Nikolais and Doris Humphrey. Pamela has performed duet works with partner, Eric Handman, including original and commissioned choreography. FREE SPECIAL OFFERING: Noontime Chat with PAMELA GEBER HANDMAN on Dance for Special Populations Friday, July 10 | 12:00noon – 12:45 pm >Pamela Geber Handman will share her experiences developing and teaching a project entitled Jump Start: a workshop with dance, storytelling and word-­‐play for individuals with Down Syndrome and their family members. Pamela will share a documentary film of Jump Start and talk about upcoming projects that bridge dance with special education and advocate for increased inclusion in public schools. WEEK TWO WEEK TWO WEEK TWO WEEK TWO WEEK TWO 3 Contemporary Technique with AMY MILLER July 13 – 17 | 10:15 -­‐ 11:45 am >Utilizing improvisational structures to discover new ways of experiencing movement, Miller's master class will prioritize both one's sense of intellect and instinct. Through conscious attention on generating momentum from the core to energize the limbs, we will explore the body's capacity for greater range and efficiency of movement. Investigations into the concept of focus (whether with one's eyes or imagination) will uncover how that research can enliven artistry and presence. Exploring both partner & group improvisations will allow for visceral connections between participants, encourage increased awareness of the moment, and build compassion towards collaborative decision-­‐making. AMY MILLER is a NYC-­‐based dancer, choreographer, educator and advocate. Interested in finding ways to foster both artistic excellence and social engagement, Miller strives to prioritize both components of her work in equal measure. The associate artistic director of Gibney Dance, she also spearheads the development of the organization's Community Action outreach into domestic violence shelters both locally and abroad. From facilitating movement workshops with survivors of trauma, to conducting trainings for artists interested in engaging in social action, Miller is devoted to raising awareness about intimate partner violence, as well as the role that movement and creativity have in both its prevention and recovery process. A former principal dancer with the Ohio Ballet, Miller spent a decade performing masterworks by such choreographers as Anthony Tudor, José Limon, and Paul Taylor, as well as Lucinda Childs, Laura Dean, Lynne Taylor-­‐
Corbett and Alonzo King among many others. She was a founding member and continues to be the artistic associate of Cleveland-­‐based GroundWorks DanceTheater, where for over a decade she collaborated on new work with such dance-­‐makers as David Shimotakahara, Alex Ketley, Keely Garfield and David Parker. As artistic associate of GroundWorks, Miller created 7 works for the company with such composers as the genre-­‐defying Ryan Lott (aka Son Lux), and Oberlin Conservatory of Music professor Peter Swendsen. Miller and Swendsen have recently premiered their newest work ‘Still and Still Moving’ with Gibney Dance Company in NYC. In addition to numerous university residencies throughout the US, her choreographic work has been seen in NYC at Judson Church, Mark Morris Dance Center, and Scandinavia House and has been produced at Spoke the Hub, West Fest Dance Festival, the West End Theater’s Soaking WET series. An avid educator as well, Miller has been involved in creative movement residencies within the Cleveland Public Schools, an NEA sponsored intergenerational project at Cleveland’s Fairhill Center for Aging, as well as teaching residencies at Cleveland State University, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Mimar Sinan University (Istanbul), University of Cape Town and DOCH, School of Dance and Circus (Stockholm). Miller holds a BFA in Dance and is also the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for her choreography. FREE SPECIAL OFFERINGS: Creative Process with AMY MILLER July 13 and 14 | 12:15 -­‐ 2:00 pm *RSVP required: L.Deering@csuohio.edu >By cultivating an environment that embraces playful experimentation, Amy Miller prioritizes collaborative process over final product in her creative workshops. We will WEEK THREE WEEK THREE WEEK THREE WEEK TWO WEEK TWO 4 experience techniques that enliven the imagination, generate useful questions, and encourage a curiosity for the evolution of an idea over time. Group feedback sessions will provide valuable cross-­‐pollination of concepts and esthetics. Ways of approaching music collaboration will be addressed, along with strategies for empowering and encouraging groups of collaborators throughout a creative journey. RSVP required: l.deering@csuohio.edu Noontime Chat with AMY MILLER on Dance for Special Populations Friday, July 17 | 12:00 noon – 12:45 pm >Amy Miller will discuss her work spearheading the development of the Gibney Dance’s Community Action outreach into domestic violence shelters both locally and abroad. This includes facilitating movement workshops with survivors of trauma, conducting trainings for artists interested in engaging in social action, raising awareness about intimate partner violence, and the role that movement and creativity have in both its prevention and recovery process. Contemporary Technique with HELANIUS WILKINS July 20 – 24 | 10:15 -­‐ 11:45 am >Class is designed to deepen studies in contemporary dance through finding the joy of “daring dance” by engaging in a physical practice and discussion-­‐based process that fuses the exploration of velocity, weight, gesture, and gymnastic principles with technique as conditioning work, mental training, and building strong performance skills. Concepts are introduced and practiced through improvisation, floor and center technique sequences, and across the floor combinations. Ultimately this workshop enable participants to increase their sense of body awareness and connectivity, identify personal movement preferences while broadening movement possibilities, explore expressive range, and manipulate movement ideas through the performance of choreography. HELANIUS J. WILKINS, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, is an award winning choreographer, performance artist, and instructor newly based in Boulder, CO. He relocated from Washington, D.C., where he lived for eighteen (18) years and founded EDGEWORKS Dance Theater, an all-­‐
male dance company of predominantly African-­‐American men that existed for thirteen (13) years (2001 -­‐ 2013). Honors include the 2008 Pola Nirenska Award for Contemporary Achievement in Dance, DC’s highest honor given by the Washington Performing Arts Society; the 2002 and 2006 Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project Award; and multiple Metro DC Dance Awards. In addition he was a three times finalist for the D.C. Mayor’s Arts Awards and Bates Dance Festival, one of the premiere festivals in the United States, named him Photo: Angelisa Gillyard their 2002 Emerging Choreographer.A graduate of SUNY Brockport, Wilkins returned to the university setting in summer 2011 as an extension of his artistic journey, and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance degree from the George Washington University. Prior to attending SUNY Brockport, Wilkins attended the Rochester Institute of Technology where he studied Film and Video Production. In addition to performing the works of nationally recognized WEEK THREE WEEK THREE WEEK THREE WEEK THREE 5 choreographers including Robert Moses, Earl Mosley, Joy Kellman, Troy Powell, Gesel Mason, and Kevin Wynn, he performed with Present Tense Dance Company (Upstate NY) as well as with Maida Withers’ Dance Construction Company (DC), and as a guest with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (MD). He has equally enjoyed creating, presenting, and receiving commissions for choreography throughout the United States and abroad. To date, he has choreographed and directed over 60 works, which includes two critically acclaimed musical productions for Washington, DC’s Studio Theater – “Passing Strange” (2010) and “POP!” (2011). Foundations and organizations including New England Foundation for the Arts (National Dance Project), National Performance Network (NPN), D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts have supported his work. Wilkins teaches professional and pre-­‐
professional dancers as well as students of various ages and levels of skill. He has served as an adjudicator and master teacher at American College Dance Association conferences (formerly American College Dance Festivals) in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2010 -­‐ 2014. He recently completed visiting professor/guest-­‐artist-­‐in-­‐residence appointments at Slippery Rock University, PA (spring 2014) and American University in Washington, D.C. (fall 2014 semester). He is currently a visiting professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Colorado -­‐ Boulder. FREE SPECIAL OFFERING: DANCE ACTIVE! with TAMMY METZ STARR July 22 and 23 | 12:15-­‐1:30 PM *RSVP required: l.deering@csuohio.edu >Dance Active! incorporates elements of modern dance, yoga, and social dance forms to get the mature body moving in a fun way. Exercises are designed to meet strength, flexibility, and balance activity recommendations to maintain physical fitness and health. Movement combinations can be adapted for a variety of functional and fitness levels. No previous dance experience is necessary. *RSVP required: l.deering@csuohio.edu TAMMY METZ STARR draws upon her training in a variety of Asian dance and drumming forms to inform the textures of her performance, choreography, and teaching of modern dance. She holds an MFA in dance performance and choreography from the University of Hawai`i, and her professional performance credits include the Ririe-­‐Woodbury Dance Company and SB Dance of Salt Lake City, UT, and Iona Pear Dance Theatre of Honolulu, HI. Tammy’s recent pursuits involve Photo: Brad Phalin physical therapy, particularly for older adults and individuals requiring hospice or palliative care. She recently completed a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree with a certificate in contemporary gerontological practice at the University of Toledo. SOMATIC TECHNIQUES July 6 – 24 | 8:45 – 10:00 am (all three weeks) PILATES with Lisa DeCato (Mondays and Fridays; and Tues., 7/14) >Sessions will focus on moving with ease and efficiency according to one's own body structure. Pilates mat work will be the primary source to gain improved balance, strength and postural integration. 6 LISA DECATO is a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) and an adjunct professor in the Dance Department at Cleveland State University. Lisa has an extensive background in teaching movement somatics and applied kinesiology. She is the co-­‐founder of the Learning Partners Group where she is a consultant developing programming to better understand the integration of the learning process and the body. Lisa received an MFA in dance from the Ohio State University & continues to study dance, yoga, and Pilates. YOGA with ERICA EUFINGER STEINWEG (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays, except 7/14) >Yoga informed by the Iyengar style is a wonderful complement to a dancing life. In this method, attention to postural detail helps to infuse the body with the mind’s awareness, illuminating new possibilities that can be applied to the stillness of asana and sweeping across the floor. ERICA EUFINGER STEINWEG, RYT began her career in movement as a dancer. She has a BFA in modern dance from the University of Utah, has attended Jacob’s Pillow, and danced professionally in the Cleveland area with the Repertory Project. In yoga, Erica holds a certificate in Iyengar yoga and teaches at the Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders as well as The Yoga Room and Cuyahoga Community College. EXCLUSIVE OFFERING for CSU SUMMER DANCE WORKSHOP REGISTRANTS!! All registered participants will receive one FREE ticket to: Parsons Dance Saturday, July 25 | 8:00 pm at Cain Park, Cleveland Heights >Presented by DANCECleveland & Cain Park Presents. *National Day of Dance Celebration activities will also be happening on Sat., July 25 at Cain Park (presented by DANCECleveland): 6:30pm -­‐ Wine tasting and picnic options 7:00pm -­‐ Free popular line dancing, ballroom "classes" and music in the colonnade *Opportunity to possibly be featured on So You Think you Can Dance with the group videotaping on stage of the National Day of Dance Routine. For more info, visit DANCECleveland on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DANCECleveland CSU Summer Dance will have a review session on Fri., July 24, 12:00 – 12:45pm for those wishing to learn or review the choreography for July 25th‘s performance/videotaping at Cain Park. For more information about CSU Summer Dance Workshop:
CSU Theatre & Dance Website: http://www.csuohio.edu/class/theatre/upcoming-dance-events
Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=9htfnesqp3g19843sjgkub1nr8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York
Email: l.deering@csuohio.edu